Happy Friday!

Happy Friday All! I don't know about you but I am looking forward to the weekend! I wanted to share a site I recently came across and have become slightly addicted too, Food Babe. Beware, this site is a bit information overload, but oh so interesting. I don't necessarily agree with 100% of all of her opinions, but it sure makes you think about the foods you are putting into your body a bit more. I understand eating healthy can sometimes be a bit more expensive, but when you see all of the MANY benefits, the fact that you are lowering so many health risks, and overall just plain and simple taking the best care of the one body God gave you, why not invest in it a little more?

I love this video she shares on her site as well. You can find several other videos, as well as great recipe ideas, and many other tips and tricks. The list of the many company's ingredients that she has worked so hard to change is truly amazing!

I also read recently a great blog post about how one Mom spends $100 a week on groceries at Whole Foods for her family. Pretty impressive if you ask me. You can read her post here. It does take a bit more planning and efforts, but is also worth the savings. Just goes to show it can be done.

I personally have found it hard sometimes to buy organic in Wichita, we have several organic grocery stores but on the opposite side of town, so it just hasn't been that convenient. So when I can't, I always ensure I am reading nutrition labels to look and see what ingredients are in the food I'm buying. Recently however, construction started on a Natural Grocers literally right around the corner from us. I am pumped! I actually got invited to their Sneak Peek open house this Sunday and am more than thrilled to check it out! I have been to the east side Natural Grocers several times, but am excited to learn a bit more about the company and get a tour of the store. I will post a review on it next week and let you all know how it goes!

Favorite Gifts

I wanted to share with you all one of my favorite Christmas gifts as well as my favorite birthday gift!

I received an Erin Condren life planner for Christmas and it was one of my favorite gifts!
I am a planner, one that loves organization and routine, and can never have to many sticky notes! I was on the hunt for a 2015 planner but wanted one that was a bit different and unique and would get the job done (aka lots of space for writing things down). While on instagram one day I came across the Life Planner by Erin Condren and knew I had to have it.

A few things I love about these planners: you can personalize them (personalizing makes anything better), laminated cover, inspirational quotes throughout planner, stickers for special reminders, meals/exercise list area, to-do lists, pockets (great for receipts), and so much more. It also fits in my purse so I can take anywhere. Erin Condren definitely knows what she is doing and has so many other great products to offer. I think these would be great gift ideas for any woman- whether she is a busy Mom, college student or working woman it would be helpful for anyone.

For sometime, I have wanted some sort of an activity tracker. I bought a Polar last year which tracks heart rate and calories burned however you have to wear a band below your chest as well which isn't my most favorite. Gets a bit annoying at times in my opinion. I only wear it to workout because it is a bit inconvenient. So I have been looking at fitbits and jawbones for some time because I thought it would be great to track movement throughout the day as well as sleeping patterns. We actually sell Jawbones at my new job so I thought why not get one of these. Pat ended up getting me one for my birthday and I LOVE IT. I actually like it way better than my Polar, even though they track different things, I just love the convenience of it and how it is lightweight and you can wear with anything. I have mine set to vibrate after I have been sitting 20 minutes, this is a great reminder to get up and move more. It also vibrates every 2,000 steps I walk. I have mine set for 10,000 a day, which is surprisingly a lot harder to reach when you sit at a desk for quite a bit of the day. It has been so helpful though to encourage me to walk a bit more as I do strive to hit that 10,000 mark (which is about 5 miles). I love that I can wear it to workout and you can set a timer to track your activity as well as put it in sleep mode. I always thought I was getting a decent amount of sleep until I realized how much I toss and turn during the night, so this has been very informative! Totally a great purchase!